Cyanogen

Updated: 1 week ago

In Short

Cyanogen is a US-based mobile software company which produces Android-based firmware for mobile devices. The company started life back in 2009 with the arrival of CyanogenMod, a custom ROM for the T-Mobile G1 created primarily by Steve "Cyanogen" Kondik. As Android grew in popularity during the following years, CyanogenMod grew in reach and feature set, with a vast community of contributors maintaining CM support across dozens — and eventually hundreds — of devices. With CyanogenMod, Android owners able to load custom firmware on to their device could replace the manufacturer's software experience with CM, gaining new features, increased control (with optional root access), a visual style closer to Google's vision of Android — and often improved performance to boot. CyanogenMod is an open-source OS based on the Android Open-Source Project.

In 2013 Cyanogen, Inc. was founded by Kondik and leading individuals in the CM community with venture capital funding, in order to expand upon CM and make the project commercially viable. The following year saw the launch of the OnePlus One, running the new Cyanogen OS, launched in partnership between Cyanogen and Chinese newcomer OnePlus. That device featured a new version of CM, dubbed CyanogenMod 11s, with additional closed-source features designed for the OnePlus One. In late 2014 Cyanogen announced a partnership with Micromax in India, which would see that manufacturer exclusively carry CM phones in that country.

Alcatel joined the party at Mobile World Congress 2015, with the Cyanogen-powered OneTouch Hero 2+. And in early 2015 the company raised $80 million in funding from investors including mobile giants like Twitter, Qualcomm and Telefónica — but not the widely rumored Microsoft.

The current stable version of Cyanogen's software is CyanogenMod 11, based upon Android 4.4 KitKat. CM12, based upon the Android 5.0 Lollipop release, is in development at the time of writing.

10 October 2016 21By Andrew MartonikIn a long and winding blog post, we got a pretty comprehensive update pointing to big changes to Cyanogen Inc. in terms of its new business strategy but also executive leadership team.

25 July 2016 32By John CallahamKirt McMaster, the CEO of Cyanogen, has denied recent reports that the company is switching its strategy to apps, saying, "We are an OS company and our mission of creating an Open Android stands."

22 July 2016 46By John CallahamNew reports claim that Cyanogen may have laid off as much as 20% of its staff. One of those reports claims the company could be switching its strategy away from OS development to focus on apps.

07 March 2016 2By Russell HollyWe recently sat down with IDEAA President Aaron Kasten and Cyanogen's Ed Mancebo to talk about developer events happening around the world and what the new MOD system at Cyanogen is all about.

22 February 2016 7By Rich EdmondsCyanogen announced a new developer platform for apps and content to be built on at Mobile World Congress. Titled MOD, the company is now enabling developers to utilize available APIs to really ramp up access and offer improved user experiences.

04 January 2016 29By Rich EdmondsMicrosoft has been opening up its platforms and services to other ecosystems and Cortana is the latest to be partnered with a competitive offering. The company has teamed up with the developers behind Cyanogen OS to have the personal assistant bundled with powered hardware.

12 November 2015 13By Jared DiPaneTelefonica has teamed up with BQ to be the first mobile operator in Europe to launch a Cyanogen OS-powered smartphone. The Aquaris X5 is the first offering from the duo, which features a 5-inch display priced at €209.

12 November 2015 14By Alex DobieDuring his keynote address at the Big Android BBQ Europe in Amsterdam this morning, Cyanogen co-founder and CTO Steve Kondik gave attendees an update on "what's up with CyanogenMod," and what fans can expect from Cyanogen, Inc. in the coming year.